PAHSMA Director of Tourism Operations, Anne McVilly, said the certificates were valuable and recognised the efforts of PAHSMA staff in achieving and maintaining the standards necessary to win.

She also said that the strong reputation of the Port Arthur Historic Site and the rapidly growing profile of the Female Factory were resulting in very strong visitation, with visitor numbers for Port Arthur up by more than 39,000 on the previous financial year.

“We enjoyed a brilliant summer season,” said Ms McVilly.

“The autumn and first month of winter have been strong too, with Dark MoFo and other events certainly attracting visitors to Tasmania who are taking the opportunity to tour around.”

“We anticipate that will continue in July, with strong visitation around the Festival of Voices, for which we are partnering and presenting a number of events at Port Arthur.”